07/10/2026
Let me introduce you to the Kalevankarhu. 🐻
Few animals have carried as much meaning in Finnish folklore as the bear. It was feared and revered at the same time. Powerful, intelligent and strangely familiar. The bear was believed to belong somewhere between the world of humans and the world of the forest, which may be one reason it became such a powerful mythical figure.
Even its name was treated with caution. The bear had many different names (e.g. otso, ohto, kontio, nalle, mesikämmen) because, according to old beliefs, its true name was not something to be spoken aloud.
In the Kalevala, the bear is known as Ohto, and its mythical birth takes place in the heavens:
“Missä Ohto synnytelty,
mesikämmen käännytelty?
Kuun luona, tykönä päivän,
otavaisten olkapäillä.
Sieltä on maahan laskettu
hihnoissa hopeisissa,
kultaisissa kätkyissä.”
In English:
“Where was Ohto born,
where was the honey-paw turned?
By the moon, beside the sun,
on the shoulders of Otava.
From there he was lowered to earth,
in silver straps,
in golden cradles.”
The relationship between humans and the bear was complex. Bears were hunted, but their deaths were followed by elaborate “karhunpeijaiset”, rituals that helped reconcile the community with the powerful creature they had killed. The bear’s skull could be returned to a pine tree, symbolically allowing it to return to the heavens and be born again.
It’s this fascinating world of ancient animal mythology that inspired Finnish silversmith Kaisaleena Mäkelä. Her bear design was created in the 1990s for Kalevala Koru’s Alkuaika collection, which drew inspiration from ancient Finno-Ugric animal imagery and jewellery traditions.
And now, over 25 years later, Alkuaika is returning, with Mäkelä’s original designs reinterpreted for today.
I’m curious, do you prefer the original 1990s designs or the new interpretations?
A small name note: in the video I call it Kalevalan karhu (“Kalevala’s bear”) because I’m referring to the bear of Finnish mythology and the Kalevala, and this is a Kalevala Koru design. The official name of the jewellery piece is Kalevankarhu / “Kaleva’s Bear.”
